return true
by SpookyDJ
Summary: You're not sure exactly what you expected when you gave Chara your soul. You certainly weren't expecting them to try to break the barrier. And both of you definitely weren't expecting the flower to get in their way. But this could turn out to be entertaining, at least for awhile. (Sequel to return null;)


When the human had destroyed what remained and only brought it back when you gave them your soul, you really hadn't expected the situation to turn out the way like this.

You'd followed Chara through the Ruins, watched them get into a battle with a tiny froggit. And you'd thought the poor creature was done for. But they simply mumbled an insult at it, pacifying it, and spared it. And this was a trend that went on as you continued through the kingdom. The human never attacked a single monster. Why then, you wondered, had they so willingly destroyed it all? Why did they move your hand to deal the final blow? You had escalated the situation to that point, of course, but it was they who ended it when you were suddenly unwilling.

It was some time before you had realized the situation had been more complex than you had first thought.

They had been tied to your soul, as you now were to theirs. When you gained execution points, when your love increased, the same happened to them. They had said as much. And the love you had gained had impacted you both. As it increased, you both became distanced from what you were doing, and killing became easier. This was true not only for you, but for them as well. Now that your execution points and love were all gone, it was only natural that you would both be different.

You also remembered that from what stories other monsters had told, monsters had been nothing but kind to Chara when they had been alive. You couldn't think of any reason for them to hate monsterkind, even now. There was no evidence that they bore any ill will either, even before they had your soul. So it made sense, you supposed, that they'd treat kindly the creatures who had once done the same for them.

And, you reflected, it is possible the human planned this all from the beginning. They saw all of the lives you took, ad likely assumed you would do it again. It was a safe guess, you concede. Once you got to the end, they destroyed the timeline. Knowing that wasn't what you'd want, knowing they could bring it back. In bringing it back, they took your soul, and now the Underground was safe from you. They would keep safe all the monsters they had cared about before, and care about now. You couldn't be sure of all this, of course, but if they had indeed planned it all, then it was a very cunning move.

But as you'd followed them around, you noticed they didn't quite seem satisfied. As if their plans extended further. What more was there, you wondered. You couldn't wait to find out. It was something to look forward to, which was becoming rare.

It wasn't until you reached the barrier for the second time in this state that you looked outside the box, and it all made sense.

Chara was kind to every monster they met, but when you two were alone, they usually looked angry. It was a look you recognized well after your final run. At first, you had guessed they might be mad at you. For turning everyone to dust, and wanting to go back like it never happened. But again, you hadn't been thinking outside the box. It wasn't just you. Chara was angry with humanity. Perhaps for whatever they went through before they had fallen, but definitely for what happened after. For trapping monsterkind underground. For taking away their hopes and dreams. For killing the prince. For killing their best friend. You had only affirmed for them what they already knew; humanity was capable of terrible things, and would do those things again and again.

Chara wanted revenge, you realized. They owed everything to monsters, and held nothing against them for any reason. They wanted to free them all, giving monsters the second chance the monsters had given them. Then, they would move on to the surface, and attack humankind for wronging the monsters so many times. They wanted justice. They wanted revenge.

The only problem was first breaking the barrier, but Flowey offered advice. He tried to steer the human in the direction of a happier ending, at least, before he stole the souls of all their friends, and nearly every monster underground.

And Chara was pissed.

The promise of freedom was ripped right out from their feet. From the very monster who had offered a solution, no less. It'd all been a trick to simply lure monsters close enough for their souls to be absorbed. Flowey did offer freedom if he could be defeated, but victory seemed far from reach. It all had been snatched away, everything Chara had worked for. And they were pissed. That is, until they saw what Flowey became with all of those souls.

Asriel Dreemurr.

Their brother, their best friend, with the power of a god. He threatened to reset again, set everything back to zero, to keep playing this 'game' he'd been keeping up. He didn't want everyone to leave. He wanted them around, so they could continue to amuse him. Purely for amusement's sake, and that's all. Once upon a time, you would have been hurt, disgusted. But now you felt nothing, and you thought you were beginning to understand.

But none of this was what went through Chara's mind. You both knew, of course. You already knew. He'd told you both himself, while you set about the task of emptying the kingdom. He'd revealed everything, told everything about what'd happened and how he'd adjusted and reacted. You both knew he'd been created of Asriel's dust. But this still so bizarre. There was a difference between knowing and seeing for yourself. Not to mention, the way he was acting. Back when he'd told you, even as he'd talked about finishing what he'd started, there was a sort of...gentleness. A fragment of what you believed he once was. Now there was no sign of that. He acted just as he had most of the time you had known him, without care for everyone. This was so different from the Asriel you thought had been, the Asriel Chara had once known. A being who toyed with the lives of others, in the body of Chara's best friend.

And now, you saw something completely new in the person pretending to be you. Shock, surprise, and guilt.

Until your former soul flared with a fire, and they were once again consumed with anger. You could almost feel it radiating off of them. His betrayal yet again. His desire to keep the barrier intact and trap everyone down here. The first time he'd acted out of kindness, but there was no trace of that now. He refused to help the monsters both he and they had once cared for so greatly. And it hurt.

A spark of revenge and justice crossed their face, a look you were more than used to by now.

Chara dashed forward, knife in hand, and sliced at Asriel's body. He sidestepped this attempt effortlessly, and flicked his hand at the sky. A cascade of stars rained down. Hurt by the power of a god, your soul ripped in half as they died.

But this was different from a normal death. You refused. You both refused, and the soul put itself together, letting the child continue on. Finish him. Finish off the traitor.

They struck again, and once again he easily dodged. This time, a sword of his own formed in his paws, and he swung. Once again, it was too much for them, and your soul ripped apart before repairing itself once again. You weren't afraid to point out, not for the first time, that you had been far better at dodging attacks than they were. They pointedly ignored you.

This pattern repeated, and the more frustrated Chara grew, the more Asriel taunted them. Every time they died, he said, their friends forgot them more and more. Soon there'd be nothing.

They spat at him, and he laughed. He pulled out his strongest attack and ascended to a new form. Darkness enveloped the area. The barrier crackled.

This is the end, you whispered as you stared at Asriel Dreemurr with awe. The world is ending.

There was now nothing Chara could do. They couldn't attack, or show mercy, or even move. They could only struggle. Struggle against the darkness. Struggle against his oppressive new form. Struggle to move. He simply laughed. They were finished.

There's nothing more you can do, you told them.

They told you to shut up.

This is getting nowhere, you pointed out.

They insisted that it's not. This isn't the end. They can still save everyone.

Save...

They could go back with their save file, to before this happened. Maybe they could prevent this outcome, try something else. Anything but this. They reached for their save file. Nothing happened. They tried again. Nothing happened. They tried once more.

Maybe you're trying to save the wrong thing, you commented.

They tilt their head, frowning.

You remind them of all the times you had both fought Flowey the flower before. The only way to beat him had been to turn his souls against him. They were going about this the wrong way.

Instead of trying to save yourself, you said, there might be someone else you can save.

Their eyes lit up, and they nodded.

One by one, they called out the names of the friends they had made. The souls of each friend appeared before them, but in ignorance. As Asriel had said, they had all forgotten the human friend they had made. But Chara could make them remember. You rolled your eyes as they told a bad joke of a horrible caliber, but of their favorite kind. You laughed as they threw a punch much lighter than they were capable of. You cringed as they went into detail about the plot of their favorite anime. You smiled as they recited many snail facts, memorized long ago and never forgotten.

All their friends were saved. Things were beginning to look up. But it was getting them nowhere. They still couldn't move. They were out of options.

Thoughts rattled through their head, clear as day on their face as they struggled once again. How had it come to this? Why had Asriel betrayed them yet again? Why were they so useless? Why couldn't they just do something for those had done so much to help them? Why? Why? Why?

And suddenly, you realized what needed to be done. It was your own turn to save someone else. This was something only you could do. And in one time, you may have even done so gladly. Because you would've cared. It would have filled you with determination.

But the time had long passed. You no longer felt determined. You no longer felt any form of kindness. And you no longer cared. You would still do what needed to be done, of course. But not out of the goodness of your heart, or some crap like that. You had none of that to spare. You just wanted to see if you could pull it off. You were curious to see what would happen. And nothing more. Geez, you were really started to relate to the flower far more than you'd ever wanted.

You stepped forward, putting your hand over a soul that was no longer yours. You looked the human straight in the eyes. And you called out their name.

Chara.

Their eyes met yours. Something sparked in them as they heard your call. Their expression was hard to read. You called out once more.

Chara.

Your shared soul, the soul that was once yours but now belonged to them, began to flood with memories. Memories you didn't recognize, memories that didn't come from you.

A child running away, a child climbing a mountain. A child falling into a hole, landing on the hard ground below. A child crying out in pain. And a child responding.

Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you?

Two children, one leading the other, to home. A child being brought to a family, accepted by a family, taken in by a family. A child holding a bouquet of flowers as they pose for a picture with their new family. A child, the future of humans and monsters alike. Two childre trying to bake a surprise pie. Two children, crying and apologizing as the pie causes a father to fall down. A child devising a plan. A child telling another. Two children putting a plan into action.

Chara tore their eyes away just before they flooded with tears. They sniffed as the memories blurred together before falling away. They knew just as well as you whose memories those had been. Their face dropped as they stared down at their hands, one still grasping a knife. Tears began to fall.

"What am I doing...?" they mumbled.

Huh. It worked, it really worked. You hadn't been sure if it would. A smile tickled at your mouth. There was a hollow sensation that once would've been satisfaction.

The human dropped their knife. Using their now free hand to wipe their eyes, they kept fighting back the tears that wouldn't stop now.

"This is so dumb," they went on. "I'm so dumb. I let myself get mad at the only person that matters. I tried to hurt him. I wanted some kind of sick, twisted revenge or something, but he never even did anything wrong. And I'm one to judge anyway. I never did anything right. I haven't changed."

You folded your arms. Asriel raised his eyebrows.

"Asriel, it's, it's me, like you said. Your best friend, right?" They were babbling now, words falling out of their mouth. At this rate, you figured, they were gonna send themself into a panic attack. That would be entertaining, at least. "It's me, and you have every right to hate me, but I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I hurt you, I got you killed, I dragged you into stuff you ever deserved. I'm sorry. And I even tried to blame you, and, and that's even worse. It's not your fault, it never was, it was all mine, I never should've done any of it. It's okay if you hate me. I'm so sorry, I'm sorry."

Asriel stared at them, blinking slowly. Something in his eyes lit up, and he tilted his head. "...Chara?"

"I should've listened to you," Chara went on. Their eyes were wide open, staring at the ground. Tears continued to fall from them as they starting shaking uncontrollably. "You knew it was a bad idea, it was stupid, I was stupid, but I wouldn't listen to reason. I just...I just wanted to do something good for once, you know? I just wanted to help." They laughed. "I just made everything worse, I..."

"Chara," Asriel repeated. His eyes began to tear up.

"I'm so sorry," Chara whispered.

"Chara, it's okay..." A bright flash of light caused you to shield your eyes with your hands. When you next looked, Asriel had transformed to his appearance when he'd been around Chara's age. He was frowning as he approached them. "It wasn't the best plan, I'll agree to that. But I don't hate you. It's okay. You're not stupid, or any of that stuff. You just wanted to help."

"But I..." they protested.

"You just wanted to help," he repeated. "You meant well. And it's the thought that counts, right? It's okay. I forgive you."

"I don't..." They stared at him, sniffling.

Now Asriel was close enough to pull them into a hug, and he did so. Chara relaxed in his arms, their face buried in his shoulder. "For the longest time, I've been blaming myself, too," he confessed. "I thought that I was weak because I didn't fight back. I took on a bleak outlook of the world. I thought I did the wrong thing."

"'M not surprised..." Chara muttered. "Big crybaby...you're too nice to blame me for what I did."

"But don't you see?" he asked. "We both need to stop blaming ourselves. It's pointless. It's all over now. I know it's okay now. All we can do is make up for everything."

They went silent.

"I forgive you," Asriel whispered.

For a few minutes, the two didn't move, desperately clinging to their tight, warm embrace. It was probably comforting for them. You, however, were not comforted. You weren't anything. Bored, maybe. This wasn't nearly as fun as you hoped. Just a bunch of tears and hugs. Not really what you were hoping for. But there was nothing you could do about it. You could no longer interact with the world, only observe.

After the moment passed, Chara pulled away from the hug and turned to look at you. They wiped their eyes, sniffed, and smiled. You frowned.

"You know, this isn't really my soul. It doesn't belong to me."

* * *

 **Here it is, the original story I came up with for this! A lot of this was inspired by Flavor Text Chara, and if you haven't checked them out, I heavily recommend it. FTC's one of the best Undertale webcomics there is, up there with Insomnia and The Skeleton Brothers.**

 **These, however, are probably my own Chara and Frisk, not just of my design, but probably straight out of my own game. A lot of the time when I play I'm just looking for something interesting and new, or a different ending, and I'm out for my own interests, not for what's best for everyone. This Frisk is much the same. And Chara's probably tired of putting up with me. I did multiple genocide runs before I did any pacifist runs. This Frisk hasn't ever done a pacifist run either. This is the first for both of these kids.**

 **But while these kids are mostly a product of my own gaming shenanigans, it's also a nice backlash against the norms for Undertale stories. Usually everyone makes Frisk a pacifist, and Chara genocidal. But Chara only ever finishes what you've started, and Frisk is capable of more than just pacifism. I wanted to tip the scales a bit. I enjoy a (mostly) pacifist Chara, and a more neutral or chaotic Frisk, only looking out for themself. Good times.**

 **Anyway, uh, hope you enjoyed these kids running around and causing mayhem.**


End file.
